PATAGONIA – CHILE
TORRES DEL PAINE N.P.
In the beautiful Torres del Paine region of Chile was another huge success with hour upon hour of watching and photographing wild Pumas on foot! Sebastian Kennerknecht was co-leader this year and was invaluable getting clients into the right position and helping with gear issues. Some memorable encounters and photo ops included spending a magical day with 18 month old siblings Simba and Petaca. These two and their brother Hunter were recently ousted by their mother and now are finding their way as solitary Pumas. But as we saw, they are still spending time with each other.
We started out with a very steep climb to reach where Simba and Petaca had been located. One of the great aspects of this trip is the physical nature of finding and tracking these wide ranging cats. We sit waiting to hear from one of our several spotters/trackers who are posted with radios in high lookout points. Once a Puma is spotted, we pack-up and hike to that location. We had a short but steep climb to reach our siblings this morning…only to follow them right back down the hill we climbed! We saw them walking through huge rock formations, chasing each other down the hill and then left them in late morning as they looked for a place to rest for the day.
We went back to them for the afternoon shoot. I was asked by my guide if another couple photographers could join my group on this sighting. I agreed and was quite surprised as the legendary photographer Art Wolfe walked up with a friend to join us. As our two cats woke and started moving, we followed at a safe distance of 20-30 meters finding angles and positions for great images. They moved down the hill into the valley below as the sun started to set. We tried to keep up and when we reached them in the valley, we saw them drinking from a small stream. Quickly we positioned for these very unique shots of wild pumas drinking — I couldn’t believe it! This was my 6th year leading this trip and I had rarely seen these cats drinking…especially in such a scenic spot!
We watched Petaca take the lead and start looking at potential food, a solitary Guanaco feeding 100 meters away. As Petaca worked on a possible ambush, Simba laid down for a rest 30 meters behind his sister, obviously happy to let her do all the work for the both of them! As the light faded and the Guanaco moved out of ambush range, we decided to pack up and head back to camp. As we walked by where Simba rested on the ridge above, I noticed the setting moon coming down… hmmm I thought. If we positioned correctly and Simba awoke from his nap and lifted his head, we might just have a chance for a spectacular moonscape silhouette. After about 30 minutes of constant repositioning as the moon moved closer to our subject, it happened! Simba raised his head and repositioned just as we were about to lose the moon behind the ridge. Wow! Just Wow!
The water drinking and moon silhouette were my two favorite photo moments on this trip, but we had Pumas everyday with different situations and backgrounds. The sheer variety of images we capture on this trip is always astounding as we are very focused on one species. We found time to work on sunrise Guanaco shots as well as fighting Guanacos. We had a great afternoon watching 3-4 different male Guanacos continually challenging each other to “king of the hill” battles. They scream and run at each other, rising up on hind legs just before contact, then slamming their chests together and looking for a front leg to bite.
We also had a great afternoon watching and photographing the amazing Andean Condors at our cliff location at the end of the tour. Getting full frame shots of these huge birds at eye level as they soar by us is always a thrill. I look forward to another great opportunity photographing wild Pumas on our next Puma Quest Photo Tour coming March 2020.